Jon Worth

OK, thanks to @bohwaz for clearing up the SNCF luggage rules

See pages 35 and 178 of SNCF's terms of carriage - PDF https://www.sncf-voyageurs.com/medias-publics/2024-07/tarifs-voyageurs-version-5-juillet-2024-VDEF-FR.pdf

Your luggage needs to VISIBLY indicate your name, and NOTHING ELSE

Note: despite SNCF's own luggage labels having a field for telephone number, this is NOT OBLIGATORY

Also the name being visible would be - for example - covered by you writing the name directly on the bag. It does not have to be a separate label

1/2

Aug 17, 2024 at 1:07pmWeb
Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024

Also via @bohwaz "Ces dispositions ne s'appliquent pas aux effets ou menus objets que le voyageur conserve à sa disposition immédiate." - the name requirement does not apply to bags you have right with you

But it DOES apply to each of the bags covered by the luggage rules (1 small, 2 large bags) and - for example - were you to leave a handbag on a seat and go to the toilet, SNCF staff could still get arsey

A mess

Want to be sure? Luggage tag ONLY WITH YOUR NAME ON IT, and ON ALL YOUR BAGS

Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024

Agh

There is also a QR code system you can use... https://etiquettebagage.sncf.com

That supposedly guarantees your anonymity

But given it's a LAW that states that your name and first name have to be shown, AND there are operators other than SNCF in France... Hmmm. What the hell to make of this?

Mon étiquette bagage

Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024
But does it even still exist? I have travelled a lot in France since 2022 and not seen any sign of this one - the QR code baggage tag - WARNING - LINK TO X https://x.com/TGVINOUI/status/1542841410075885570
TGV INOUI (@TGVINOUI) on X

Pour un été serein ☀️🌾🌊 et éviter les retards dus aux bagages oubliés, @SNCFVoyageurs déploie un nouveau dispositif : l'étiquette QR code. Elle est 100% anonyme et permet de connaître rapidement l'identité du voyageur en protégeant ses coordonnées de la vue des autres clients.

X (formerly Twitter)
Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024

Ah no. It only works on some lines https://x.com/TGVINOUI/status/1542843885159858180

« Monsieur, vous n'avez pas étiqueté votre sac ! »

« Si, j'ai utilisé l'étiquette QR code de la SNCF »

« Désolé, mais c'est la LGV Est, et ça ne marche que sur Sud Est et Atlantique, donc ce sera 50 € d'amende pour vous ! »

TGV INOUI (@TGVINOUI) on X

@ClovisB_Public @SNCFVoyageurs Bonjour ! Elle est pour le moment disponible sur le Sud-Est et l'Atlantique, vous pourrez la retrouver sur le quai avant l'embarquement, en boutique ou auprès des chefs de bord.

X (formerly Twitter)
Show threadSellaTheChemistAug 17, 2024
@jon C'est complètement inoui.
Show threadprlAug 17, 2024
@jon I got given a couple of QR tags at Gare Montparnasse on the way down to Spain via Hendaye. It seems clear that once you have registered the tag (which seems to require a phone number) then one's name doesn't need to be legible on the tag itself.
Show threadprlAug 17, 2024
@jon This was on 24 July and I think I was given them by Olympic helpers, not SNCF staff.
Show threadprlAug 17, 2024
@jon The main problem is that they're springy plastic and fly off at the merest touch. I eventually mashed one tag into the latch of the suitcase in the rack to make it stay put.
Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024
@prl Ah. I presume because the non-QR ones are paper, and tear off in no time. So they solved one problem and caused another! 🙂
Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024
@prl Yes that is clear - on SNCF, on those lines where the QR tags work. But that is not all lines, and only on SNCF. Plus as @bohwaz has been documenting the data protection policy is quite poor there too, so I am not convinced by the QR solution.
Show threadprlAug 17, 2024

@jon @bohwaz I'm guessing that no "gadget" is required by SNCF, police etc, the link just leaks enough info that they can check initials and a few mobile number digits against the person standing in front if them they feel they need to.

I assumed that security would be crap, but at least I didn't have to write my name on the tag for everyone to read...

Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024
@prl @bohwaz no I think if you scan it with a regular phone you get nothing.
Show thread[email protected]Aug 18, 2024
@jon Reading all this reinforces my idea that a Venn diagram of #English, #French, and #German cultural characteristics has huge intersections and that animosities towards each other are a result of us pretending to be oh-so-different.
Show threadJon WorthAug 18, 2024
@chris the railways are *very* different though. DB wouldn’t do something this weird.
Show thread[email protected]Aug 18, 2024
@jon Of course they won’t. I guess that tracking the new passengers boarding at the many stops is enough of a challenge for DB and I’m still impressed by it.
Matching them with their bags is impossible.
For Germany a densely interconnected network of moderately fast trains may be more useful than a sparsely interconnected network with high-speed trains between few and distant stops.
But that’s nothing I have any expert knowledge on, only anecdata I experienced being a passenger.
Show threadQuixoticgeekAug 17, 2024
@jon @bohwaz is first name enough?
Show threadJon WorthAug 17, 2024
@quixoticgeek @bohwaz No. Nom et prénom.
Show threadMartin HoffmannAug 17, 2024
@jon « Je suis désolé, mais je suis monsieur Deuter ! »
Show threadJonBrightAug 17, 2024
@jon @bohwaz it doesn't specify any font sizes. Label with 36pt Nom and Prénom field names and 0.2pt content would be technically compliant. Can't argue it's not visible. (Technically it also doesn't say which part of the light spectrum it should be visible in.)